Linux Kernel Vulnerability in Memory Management Related to mTHP Swapin

CVE-2025-38241

What is CVE-2025-38241?

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's memory management system has been identified, which may result in soft lockups during mTHP (multi-page transparent huge page) swap-in operations. This issue arises when a conflict occurs between allocated swap cache memory and the mTHP folio, leading to repeated retries of the allocation process, which can cause system performance issues. The problem was noted when using zram devices and can be reproduced under specific conditions involving memory cgroups and persistent allocation loops.

References